Mourning Glory
by GangGreenGhost
Summary: Mourning Star is a villain with fire powers. But not all appears as it seems as the story unfolds. BOUGHT OVER FROM DA AND COMPLETED BEFORE SEASON ONE FINISHED UP.
1. Chapter 1

Melissa was now nineteen years old and she was about to become a big time super villain. She had tested out the extent of her powers and had almost mastered them with ease. Her red hair had orange and yellow streaks in it and she had made her suit out of yellow and orange spandex, complete with a hand drawn red star on the chest and orange thermal gloves. Of course she had planned ahead and special ordered her clothes to be flame retardant. That cost her an arm and a leg to make the deal, but then again it technically cost the city of Metropolis an arm and a leg. Form fitting, the spandex hugged her frame comfortably.

The jewelry store was packed, smiling wickedly she tossed the creepy trench coat aside and said "Everybody down!" as flames shot out of her hands to melt the glass. She pressed her palms against the displays and took the precious jewels, being careful not to damage them. She placed them in her flame retardant baggie and went about her business "Now everyone gimme all your valuables and cash! Do it now!"

Amidst the screaming, a small child cried to which the super powered robber gritted her teeth and slapped the child "Shut up or I'll GIVE you a reason to cry!" a flame ball formed in her fists and the child's mother came between them. "So are you willing to take your kid's punishment in his place?" the woman nodded and the fire powered robber raised her hand in an upturned position and the mother was set ablaze, eventually suffocating on the smell of her burning flesh.

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" came a loud yell and then she was knocked to the ground. A teenage boy in a black t-shirt and a red "S" in a diamond stood above her, soon she was surrounded by a green Martian, Kid Flash, Aqua Lad, Robin and a Green Arrow knockoff.

The Martian girl said "Your actions stop now!" she flew over to her and read her mind "So you call yourself Mourning Star?"

Smirking, the fire powered girl said "That's right! Remember the name, Martian!" she set her body on fire and rushed the green girl. If there's one thing she picked up from common word of mouth gossip, it's that Martians are vulnerable to fire. But Aqua Lad was on top of things as he made the water fountains in the building burst with water.

"Seeing as how you are a fire power, let us see how you handle your elemental opposite!" a wave of water was about to come down just as Robin stopped him.

"Aqua Lad, no!" he halted his friend from filling the entire place with water "The hostages will drown!"

Gritting his teeth, Aqua Lad released the water while Kid Flash got to work with getting the hostages out of there. The last one was the little boy that witnessed his mother's horrible death, refusing to go without her. "Come on kid!" Wally West shouted "It'll be okay!" he threw a blanket over the kid's eyes to keep him from seeing his mother's charred remains.

Miss Martian tried mind control on Mourning Star, but she was too strong-willed for that. With an evil glare in her eyes she said "You wanna read MY mind, Martian?" she grabbed M'Gaan's arm and let her memories flow into the green Martian's mind, causing the other girl to be paralyzed in fear. Having the horrible memories be bought back up made Melissa cry out "MAY YOUR IMPOTENT GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL, FOR I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT!" then a blast of heat and flame filled the room, causing M'Gaan to faint and giving Mourning Star a distraction to escape.

Superboy rushed to her "M'GANN!" he picked her up, relieved to see that there was minimal damage to her. "You went intangible at the last second, didn't you?"

M'gann looked up with tears in her eyes and said "I had to...her memories were too much for me..." she buried her face in Superboy's chest and cried some more. He cradled her closely, a slight blush coming across their faces at the tender moment.

"What did you see?" he asked her, carrying her back to the Mountain and to her room.

"I can't describe it...it was horrible..." a chill ran down her spine and fear came across her face. "She witnessed something terrible...I can see why she strayed to crime..." the Martian was accustomed to cold weather, but she wasn't used to such atrocities as were in the girl's memories. She shivered and to her surprise, Conner Kent cuddled in the bed with her to warm her up. "Conner? What are you-?"

"You looked cold, so I thought I'd warm you up..." he bought her head under his chin and hugged her tight.

Meanwhile, Mourning Star escaped to the empty warehouse in the city. She wiped her eyes of tears and cursed "That green loser will pay for what she made me remember!" she opened her baggie and looked at her loot and smiled, the fact that she took a child's mother away from him not bothering her at all. She knew that the police would be coming for her, and she had planned on it. She wanted to go to Belle Reve and get to know some of the inmates there. She needed some patsies after all.

Soon, Aqua Lad came and drowned her out while Kid Flash put a special collar on her that inhibited her powers. "You have taken the life of a young mother" the Atlantian teen said to her "Life in Belle Reve will be a fitting sentence for such a horrible criminal such as you" he and Wally escorted her to a waiting transport to Belle Reve, where Killer Frost and Captain Cold were in the back too.

Frost mocked her "Haven't seen you around here before, girlie! So what powers do YOU have to get you locked up?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mourning Star mocked back, a coy smile on her face. It wouldn't serve her purpose to have people know her powers now, or the element of surprise would be compromised.

"Oh, we have a smart mouth on our hands!" Frost cackled like a witch, then shot her a glare "Don't give me attitude like that! Or you'll regret the day you were born!"

"I already do" Mourning Star said simply and that shut up Killer Frost real quick. Amanda Waller was no push over-for a normal person that is. Dr. Hugo Strange was just that Strange...she couldn't put her finger on it. He would be one to watch out for.

She and Frost were escorted to their cells (thankfully they were separated)and given prison orange for clothes. It wouldn't be long until Icicle Junior and Mr. Freeze would arriave at Belle Reve along with Tommy and Tuppance Terror. Upon sighting the blond Southern girl she chuckled and said "Hey, Tuppie~" in a flirty tone. She was perplexed when the Southern Belle looked away in painful memory.

"It couldn't be...can it?" she said to herself, the guards let the inmates into the yard for co-ed exercise when she spotted Cameron, or Icicle Junior. The son of the prison coppo. He seemed to be easily led, the teenager having a daddy complex. She approached him while he and Tommy Terror were lifting weights "Hey there, Cutie~"

The cocky ice villain sat up and said "Hey there, yourself Hot Stuff~ What's your name~?"

"You can call me Mourning Star. Everybody else does around here" she sat down next to him and started lifting with the boys.

"So what are ya in for?" said the ice powered boy.

"Arson, robbery and murder" the fire powered girl said ever so sweetly "You?"

"Causing a scene on the bridge with Green Arrow and Speedy" he passed her a towel so she can dry herself off from the sweat.

She smiled at him "Nice" she wiped herself off, fearful that her fire powers would be revealed.

"You're pretty cute yourself, Star...would you mind if I asked you to be my girl?"

"So forward, but what the hey. So am I" she planted a small kiss on his lips, getting some of the boy's freezing temperature on her lips.

"Hey, you're a great kisser!" Cameron said "I can feel the heat from your lips still!"

"Guess that means that I'm great in other areas too~" the guards corraled them into their respective groups and had them go back to their cells. A few days later, Cameron informed her of their break-out plan.

"You wanna come with us~" his hands traveled to places they've never been before, but she playfully rejected his advances.

"And join the Injustice League with you?" her hand traveled to a place where it had never been, to which the young adult male twitched with anticipation.

"Y-yeah babe! We can be partners in crime!" he pulled her into a deep passionate kiss, complete with heavy tongue usage.

"Mmmm" she nibbled on his lower lip and broke the kiss "So when do the collars shut off?"

"Tonight, babe" he kissed her neck, feeling the slight temperature rise "Our thermal oranges came today" it was time for them to part, but only temporarily.

Frost had the female guard cornered, the ice-mace in her hand ready to strike when the guard pleaded "Please! I have a family!"

"Keep screamin', it only makes it better for me" Mourning Star was about to enjoy the bloodshed, but Tuppance did something with her mind and the ice-mace shattered. Frost looked at her and said "Well, well, well-looks like Tuppie has some hidden talents" and the Terror Twin was promptly iced. Burning off her collar, Mourning Star melted one of the walls and found Edward Nigma running away.

"You're the Riddler, right? You're gonna help me escape from here with you" she said, setting the nearest objects on fire.

The frightened Nigma complied, finding the way out easy for him. "What do I get in return?" he asked her once they were out.

"That's an easy riddle even YOU could figure out, Nigma..." she caressed his cheek and said "You get to live..." a flash of flame later and she was out.

After the disappointment of the biggest breakout in history, Icicle Junior had decided to wait for his girlfriend to bust him out. He waited, and waited and waited, but she never showed up. It was then he realized that he was just a patsy to her.


	2. Chapter 2

After the breakout at Belle Reve, Mourning Star had been asked to join the Injustice League and she accepted. She prepared Icicle Junior's room for him complete with ice sculptures and furniture made entirely out of ice. She was in for some trouble when he got out or escaped. Whichever came first, she would never hear the end of leaving him there. It was afterward that she learned Tuppance and Tommy Terror were never in Belle Reve, that it was just Superboy and Miss Martian pretending to be them. At this current moment in time, the Injustice League (or the younger members for the most part) were fighing the younger members of the Justice League.

While the rest were busy with the male team members, Mourning Star managed to single out Miss Martian and begin their fight "Nice job breakin' into Belle Reve! You even had ME fooled!"

"Its not like it was very hard to fool you, Mourning Star!" she zoomed around in circles as she felt the heat from the other girl's fire. _I better be careful! If her fire hits me, I'm done for!_

Mourning Star grunted with rage and shouted "At least I don't have to PRETEND to be someone I'm not on a daily basis while I'm at school!" M'Gann's face dropped, the green color becoming a pale green. Smirking, Mourning Star knew that she hit a nerve and continued to hit that weak point "Just think: what would your precious cheerleading friends say if they found out you were a Martian?"

"Stop it..." M'Gann said, gritting her teeth "Stop it right now..."

Poking that same spot, she shouted in her mind _they'd think you were a freak! Kick you off the squad and proclaim that you used your powers to get on the team!_

_**I said stop it!**_

_And they'd find out that your so called 'boyfriend' is the bastard son of Superman and Lex Luther! To be honest, I see more of Luther in him than Superman! I guess that's why Superman won't give him a second glance!_

Mourning Star was a genius, she was jamming Miss Martians telepathic waves by filling them with her truths. Nobody else was able to contact her this way, and she used it to her advantage. She showed sympathy and said "It doesn't have to be all that bad, girl..." she embraced the Martian in a tight warm hug. "All I really ever wanted was somebody to show me the Light..."

Miss Martian was overcome with joy and hugged back tightly "Do you really mean it?" she smiled warmly at the fire powered girl.

"Not in your dreams, kid" said Mourning Star and she lit herself and Miss Martian on fire. The green girl didn't even have time to go intangible when she let out a scream that bought everybody back to reality.

Superboy was about to issue a super beat down to Bizarro when he heard her scream "M'GANN!" he abandoned what he was doing and rushed to her aid, catching the falling Martian girl as the skin began to peel off. "Oh God...M'Gann! M'Gann!" he gently shook her, but she wouldn't wake up.

Aqua Lad did a quick scan of her condition and said "She is in bad shape! If we do not get her back to the Mountain now, she shall surely die!"

Kid Flash zipped by and said "Dude..."

Conner's eyes began to tear up, but he blinked them away and said "Take her and get her help...I'll deal with Mourning Star!" he leaped up, roaring like a lion, but she was ready for him. She set all the surroundings on fire and kept up with her mind games.

"You know your little girlfriend's gonna die right? All because 'she lives in a stupid world where all her problems are solved in half an hour'" she was now clearly mocking him, hearing the tape recordings from Dr. Strange's sessions with the "Terror Twins".

He locked hands with the woman, normally easily overpowering her, but his emotions were clouding his judgment "I will kill you for what you did!"

"What **I** did? Is it MY fault that she's too trusting of others?" she focused the majority of her heat to her feet and glided around him "You think it's MY fault she didn't go intangible when she had the chance?"

"It's your fault for burning her!" he pushed her back into a burning building.

"The thing about me and fire..." she smirked at him and then engulfed herself with the flames "go together like peanut butter and jelly" drawing more power from the fire she set him ablaze. He let out a yell of frustration rather than pain, and by the time it was over his clothes were singed.

"Just you wait until-" he grunted, but was cut off by the com link in his ear.

"Aqua Lad to Superboy! M'Gann's in critical condition! Abort mission and get back here now!"

Torn between going to his girlfriend and beating her assailant to a bloody pulp, Mourning Star said "So you'd rather fight me than go see about your dying lover? What kind of a boyfriend are you?" she could see his fists clenching in anger and she prodded it even more "I can just see Lex Luther's genes in you...back in Belle Reve when you manipulated Icicle Junior with such ease only proves that you've got more evil in you than good. But hey, I'll put in a good word for you with the Injustice League when-" at this point, Superboy popped her in the jaw with one of his strongest punches. It sent her flying through the wall.

Upon returning to the Mountain, everybody was in somber spirits "Where's M'Gann?" he asked, but they all just looked down in sadness. He then grabbed Wally by the shirt and repeated "WHERE'S M'GANN?!"

Aqua Lad tenderly touched his shoulder and said "I am sorry, Superboy...M'Gann's gone..."

Upon her return to the Injustice League headquarters in the city, she was met by a satisfied Lex Luther "Well done, Mourning Star. You've managed to take out a key member of the Young Justice League. Such a thing should be rewarded, don't you think?"

"Indeed. The only thing I would like for you to do for me is that you bail Icicle Junior out of jail, if that's not too much to ask" she set her things down and moved her jaw about "Your clone has dislocated my jaw..."

"Of course he did" Luther smiled at her "And I take it you've delivered my message to him as well?"

"Would I ever let you down with something so simple?" she chuckled.

"Of course not, my dear" he wrote out a check for the set amount of bail money and handed it to her "I imagine you two have much to discuss" he then phoned for his limosine to go and retrieve Cameron.

Officer Wilcox banged on the cell door of the real Tommy Terror and Icicle Junior and said "Hey Junior! You made bail! Get your things and get out!"

"Really? Who paid my bail?" he said, hopping off the top bunk and putting the prison orange on the floor.

"Lex Luther, now hurry up! You don't wanna keep your sister waiting, do ya?"

"Sister?" he asked himself, getting his regular clothes on and out to the limo. Once he saw who it was he went dead silent and listened.

"Brother dear!" she mocked him "Why so blue?"

"Considering that you played me for a fool, used me, toyed with my emotions and used my own hormones against me, I'd say I'm just peachy" he put his face in his fist and huffed against the seat.

"Don't be so cold" she scooted closer to him "I asked Lex to get you out, didn't I?"

"You work for Lex Luther now?" his ears perked up and looked her over "Have you gone soft on me?"

"Let's take a closer look at that, shall we?" she flipped on the mini-tv in the limo and the news came on.

"Earlier this morning, a battle ensued with the Young Justice League and the Injustice League where a great tragedy happened: It seems that the super villainess Mourning Star has killed Miss Martian, niece to the Martian Manhunter during the battle. Memorial vigils and services will be going on throughout the country indefinitely..." at this point she shut the TV off.

"You killed Miss Martian?!" Cameron shrieked, looking at her like she had three heads.

"Yep! Lex offered me a reward for my good work and I asked for him to bail you out for me. I set up your cold box already~"

"Dont be getting all flirty with me! I'm still mad at you for leaving me behind!" he shrugged her off.

"But I came back for you, didn't I?" she nuzzled his nose and said "That counts for somethin' right?" she kissed him lightly, the ice on his lips melting.

The limo made it back to the base, where a first significant kill surprise party was being held in her honor. Cameron joined the festivities, and later took a big whiff of himself "Ewww...I smell like garbage..." he went to the shower room where Mourning Star was wrapped in a towel. "S-sorry..."

"Don't be, kiddo...besides, you turned eighteen when you were locked up, right?" allowing the towel to drop, she exposed her body to him, and he just stared at her in all of her nakedness.

Gulping, he said "Y-yeah..."

"That means you're legal now...and I have a belated birthday present to give you..." she ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him passionately.

He pushed her away and asked "Don't water kill you?"

"Eventually, yes" she nibbled on his earlobe and continued "But taking a shower won't kill me" she stepped into the shower stall and steam began to billow from her body. "Will my steam hurt you?"

"Not unless I'm in total ice form baby~" he joined her in the stall "This aint Belle Reve, we got all night~"


	3. Chapter 3

Conner Kent was pissed off, to say the least. Not only was he made a fool of, his girlfriend was gone. He sat in his room sulking when Kaldur knocked on his door "Who is it?"

"It is Aqua Lad" the Atlantian said "May I enter your quarters?"

"Sure, come on in..." Conner invited him and he sat next to the Kryptonian on the bed.

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"Not really...it's been a few days since she...you know..."

"I have been in a similar situation, Superboy..."

"How could you know?!" the black haired teen snapped "The only thing that happened was your girlfriend left you for your best friend!"

Kaldur bit his lip and trembled "I did not say that it was exactly like your situation, what I meant by it was that I felt a similar feeling that you are now. Your feeling however is amplified by-"

"By M'Gann not being here?! By not being able to be with her anytime I please?! You can just jump in the ocean and swim back to Atlantis to see your ex-girlfriend anytime you want, but wherever M'Gann is I can't follow!"

"You are testing my patience, Superboy...I only came to try and help you in your hour of need to console you."

"I don't need to be consoled! I need M'Gann back!" he threw his clock at Aqua Lad, missing only by a few inches and smashing into the wall.

"I shall take your words and actions with a grain of salt-your altered state of mind is to blame and I will leave you be for the time being. Please try to get some sleep..." he left to leave Conner to his silent sulking.

Meanwhile, back at Cadmus Labs in Star City a new scientific development was underway. Under the direction of Lex Luthor, the scientists were studying and trying to synthesize amber (fossilized tree resin) and the already existing synthetic kryptonite created by Luthor. The desired effects would be that when exposed to amber kryptonite, a Kryptonian would become hypnotised and do whatever the person holding the kryptonite told them to do. The project was put on hold due to Superboy's escape from Cadmus a few months prior to the date.

Calling his top agent Mourning Star in his office she said "I would like you to test a new form of synthesized kryptonite on Superboy. This is amber kyrptonite" he took out a small sized stone that fit in the palm of his hand, the yellowish-brown smooth texture was transparent "It is supposed to cause hypnosis and mind control in a Kryptonian, but it has not been tested yet. I would like for you to pick a fight with Superboy and bring this out when you're in a pinch."

Smirking, she said "With pleasure...how would you like for me to go about picking a fight with him?"

"Just do what you do best: toy with his mind, emotions and he'll be like puddy in your hands..." he caressed her cheek and said "I know you are the only one who can do an important job such as this...I know he'll demand his teammates to stand back as he takes you on himself, but stay wary: they'll jump in as soon as he's in trouble."

"I can handle myself, Lex...Trouble's my middle name!" she took the amber kryptonite and placed it in her bag for later.

She went to a crowded mall and started her fire stunts, heating up hot dogs from the vendors and using them as make-shift rocket launchers. Soon the media was there covering the story and her face was all over the T.V. screen.

Back at Mount Justice, Wally had the T.V. on and was watching his cartoons when they were interrupted by a news broadcast "This is Star News, reporting live from Star City Mall where the fire-villainess Mourning Star is causing a scene. As you all know, she is responcible for the death of Miss Martian just a few days ago and it seems she has not yet satisfied her hunger for blood..." Superboy was watching over his shoulder and growled.

Aqua Lad said "Time to move out!" the team got their things but Superboy stopped them.

"She's mine! You all stay here so you won't get in my way!"

Kaldur glared "We are a team! We will do this together!"

"Not if I get there first!" he ran out and on his way he said "Voice Command Superboy! Situation Three: Lockdown!" then the entire Mount Justice base was locked from the outside-only Superboy's voice commands from outside the facility could open it. He would get his revenge even if it killed him.

Mouring Star was trying on some skin-tight clothes, deciding that she liked them and set the register on fire so she wouldn't have to pay for it "You can't do that!" the manager protested.

"You're telling ME what I can and can't do?" she grabbed the woman's blouse and slowly set it on fire "Do you have children?"

Terrified, the woman replied "Yes!"

"And what are you going to do if I let you go?"

"I'll run home, give them great big hugs and tell them I love them!"

"Good..." she put out the smoldering embers on the woman's shirt "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind..."

"Thank you!" the woman ran out, and did as she promised what she would do.

Then, the wall caved in and Superboy was there with a hateful look in his eyes. "I've been waiting to get my hands on you for a long time!" he pushed her back, their fingers interlocking in battle "You're the reason why M'Gann-"

"I see how it is! You were too busy fighting me and weren't with her when she died!" she mocked him "She died cold and alone, didn't she?"

"RAAAAAGHHH!" he pushed her back farther, leaving marks in the floor. Setting herself and him on fire, she chuckled and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. He was ignoring the painful burns, his revenge more important than some petty third-degree burns on his hands.

"You can relate, can you? Cold and alone in that tiny cell in Cadmus was terribly lonely wasn't it? Don't wanna end up there again do you?" he roared and pushed her through the other wall and into an ice cream shop.

"Shut up! You know nothing about me!" he said, getting ready to fight once again.

"Oh but I know EVERYTHING about you: You pose as a highschool student Conner Kent, you are half Kryptonian and half human, you get mad easily and sometimes with no provocation at all, you love M'Gann...but do you know if she really loved you too? Being a Martian after all-getting in your head, she could have been messing with your emotions" with a sadistic grin she said "she's just like me in every way-except she's not as pretty as me!"

That sent Conner in a rage, and he picked her up, spun her around a few times and tossed her into the ice cream tubs. "You'll have to do more that that to beat me!" she tried lighting herself on fire again, but the wetness from the ice cream made it impossible to get enough heat going to fight.

"Youe fires been put out! Let's see how well you do without it!" he pulled his arm back for the final blow, but she pulled out her trump card-amber kryptonite. The stone began to glow a deep yellow color and Superboy heard the soft singing of M'Gann in the language of the Martians. He relaxed his grip on her and let his arms fall to the ground. He was breathing deeply and slowly-just like he was sleeping.

To see if he could do as she told him she gave him simple commands like "Put on this frilly pink dress!" and he did as he was told, the dress flowing down to his ankles. She chuckled and ordered him "Take a picture of yourself in that dress!" he did it and handed her the camera. "Good little doggie..." he scratched his ear.

Back at Mount Justice, they were trying to get back out when they heard "Superboy Voice Command: Situation Three Over, Discontinue Lockdown!" everything opened back up again and Aqua Lad was definitely going to have words with Superboy.

"Superboy, I do not know what in Atlantis you were thinking, but you have earned yourself my distrust!" he was perplexed when the normally hot-headed Superboy did not say anything, and he understood what was going on when he saw Mourning Star behind him holding a glowing yellow stone.

"Sorry, Aqua Brat..." she mocked "He's with me now...Superboy! Destroy your friends and this place!" he did as he was told, sending Aqua Lad flying into Robin, then tossing Kid Flash into the TV screen, leaving a hole that his butt got stuck in. Turning his focus to Artemis, she fired a stun arrow at him but it was set on fire by Mourning Star before it could reach him.

"You won't get away with this, Mourning Star!" she said, with Superboy grabbing her arms.

"Believe me, girl! I already have! Break her arms!" the fire villaness roared.

"Conner, no!" Artemis pleaded with her super-powered friend "This isn't you! The Superboy I know would never hurt his friends!"

With no reply, he bent both of her arms in and they all heard a distinct cracking noise and Artemis let out a scream of pain. It was so much that she passed out right there on the floor. "Good boy" she smiled at him "Now, destroy the computers and let them know just who did this!"

Superboy punched a hole in the console and ripped out the wires, alerting all the real heroes in the Watch Tower in space that connection to Mount Justice had been severed. Within the hour Green Arrow, Superman, Batman and Captain Marvel beamed themselves to the mountain to see about their side kicks. Green Arrow carried Artemis to the sick bay and had a doctor examine her arms "Both broken at the radius and ulna...multiple fractures too..."

"What does that mean doc?" Oliver Queen said.

"It means, she'll need physical therapy and even with that there's a small chance she'll be able to regain full function of her arms and hands again...so in short-she has to stop crime fighting."

Superman had dislodged Kid Flash from the television and examined the security video to see what had happened. He noticed a glowing stone in Mourning Star's hand and concluded "That must be a new synthetic form of kryptonite...I've never seen it before!"

Kaldur added his own input with "I believe the side-effects on Kryptonians are that it induces a hypnotic state in which the one holding the kryptonite has supreme command over the actions of the effected individual..."

"He is only half Kryptonian, so if it works this well on him, just image how it would work on me..." Superman thought out loud and then Batman backed him up.

"When the team has re-grouped, go back to Cadmus Labs and see if anymore of the new kryptonite has been reproduced...if not, hack into the computers and delete all the data on it. If it has, destroy those too..."

Artemis sat up in her bed and said "I wanna help too!"

Oliver took her aside and said "No, what you need to focus on now is getting better! You are to stay in your bed here until your arms have healed!"

"That's not fair! I am just as much part of this team as anybody!" she cried into his chest.

"We have some back up, that's why it took us so long to get here..." Captain Marvel said, introducing a man with long black hair and in a black and blue body suit. "Tim, meet Dick Grayson-the original Robin."

"I'm Nightwing now" the man said "I know Mourning Star personally-Batman and I went to see her while she was at Arkham when I was your age. Joker came in and busted her out and I've been looking for her since..."

Tim Drake looked up at him and said "Do you REALLY think her soul can be saved? After all she's done?"

"Every soul can be saved-Bruce wanted to adopt her when she was declared legally sane and train her to be a force to be reckoned with for the side of good" he put some more thought into his next words "Melissa Starling is my cousin..."

Upon getting back to LexCorp with Superboy in tow, Mourning Star made her way to Lex's office and presented him with her prize. "Excellent!" he beamed "Even more that what I expected from you!" he went to take the amber kyrptonite from her hand but she moved it away.

"Ah, ah, ah..." she teased him "What's the magic word?"

"Please give me my kryptonite?"

"I was thinking more of...coup de grace" she grinned wickedly.

"You trader!" Lex hissed and pressed his button for security to come. They did and waited for their orders "Arrest her and give me that kryptonite!" Nobody moved "What are you waiting for?!"

"They are waiting to see who wins" she said simply "I can see your entire life in your eyes..." she took a deep look and said "They resemble mine-poverty, child abuse and the drive to go all the way...you wanted to be a 'made man' so you took out big insurance policies on your parents and messed with their brakes to kill them..."

Grunting and growling Lex Luthor for once in his adult life was lost for words "What is it you want...?"

"It's very simple-sign LexCorp over to me and you'll get to keep your pathetic life. If not, I'll just kill you and take it by force! So what's it gonna be?"

He contemplated the consequences of his actions and grit his teeth "I'll give you LexCorp..." he had the papers drawn up and the lawyers sign it before signing it himself.

With a great deal of satisfaction, Mourning Star signed the paper and said "How's it feel to have everything you worked for taken from you so easily?" he only glared and she continued "How does it feel, seeing me succeed where you have failed so many times?"

She sat in her new desk and office, not taking her hands off the amber kryptonite for an instant when Cameron walked in with anger in his eyes "This is too much! You've gone mad with power!"

She pressed a button on her desk that linked her directly to the police station "There is an intruder in my office. He is an ice-villain to be transported to Belle Reve immediately. Please put him in solitary confinement" she let go of the button and crossed her hands in front of her face.

"You bitch! You were just using me the whole time?!"

"Took ya long enough. If you were Braniac's son, you would put him to shame. But you've already done that with your own father right?"

This point he had enough and iced himself up to toss an ice blast her way when the police burst in the door and gotten a collar around his neck and shocked him unconscious. The chief asked her "Do you know this, person Miss?"

He had regained enough consciousness to hear her say "I've never seen this loser before in my life" he groaned and knocked himself out.


	4. Chapter 4

The ride to Belle Reve was horrible, even worse than the first time. Now he had the knowledge that he had played the perfect patsy to that bitch's plan. He had to plot his revenge somehow, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The truck stopped and when the back was opened, members of the Justice League stared at him like he had three heads. "Oh great...come to rub it in?" Cameron snorted sarcastically.

"Actually, we're here to offer you a way out..." Nightwing said "Granted you do something for us..."

"What are ya talkin' about?" the ice villain raised his eyebrow.

"We need your help breaking into Cadmus. If we find what we're looking for, we'll let you go free" he tossed Icicle Junior the key to the collar and gratefully the ice man unlocked it, icing himself up.

"Too thin" he grunted "If you guys do find what you're lookin' for, you let me go and let me handle Mourning Star!"

"Very well" Nightwing said, letting the man out and into the entrance of Mount Justice.

Artemis was sitting up in her bed, trying to reach the spoon from the cereal so she can eat. Her mother was furious with her for getting herself so severely injured, and she let her know with her daily telephone calls. Just before the briefing of their mission, Junior went into her room with a bouquet of tiger lilies and set them on the table. She glared at him over the spoon in her mouth and said "What are YOU doing here?!"

"I came to help you..." he said, deicing himself to show that he was not going to attack "I found out what Superboy-"

"Mourning Star. He has him under some mind control thing...the real Superboy would never break my arms..."

"Yeah...anyways, she royally pissed me off with what she did to you and screwed me over" he took the spoon from her and began to feed her.

"I don't need your help!" she said, turning her face away from him.

"You gotta eat..." he brushed her long blond hair out of her face and his touch was surprisingly warm "It's okay to ask for help every now and then..."

"Shut up! No it's not-" his stomach gave out a loud growl and she reluctantly let him feed her "Breathe a word of this to anybody and I'll shove an arrow down your throat..."

"Whatever you say" he chuckled and finished feeding her. "I gotta go now...help out with a mission..."

She gave him her best flirty smile and said "You better come back alive. I'd miss you if you went and died on me" she winked and his heart began to flutter.

Robin and Nightwing set up a holographic image of Cadmus Labs in Star City and highlighted the places where they needed to hit. "Right here is where the cryogenic capsules are. We need to get through the security system to gain access to it" they looked at Junior and said "That's where you come in-if you freeze off the keypads then the system will shut down and we can get into anywhere."

"You betcha!" Cameron said, turning up the ice power "What about the amber kryptonite though?"

Robin smirked and brought it on screen "The chemical compound is only synthetic-meaning that it's man-made. And apparently its only good for one-time use, meaning if we can get it away from Mourning Star, we can rescue Superboy and stand a chance against her!"

"Then it looks like you'll need all the help you can get!" the familiar bright and bubbly voice was that of Miss Martian herself as she glided into the hall. To which her teammates promptly glomped her and gave her hugs. The only one utterly confused was Junior.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?!" he said.

"I was only with Uncle J'onn so he can heal me! Mourning Star did hurt me when she set me on fire, but she didn't kill me" the cute Martian girl smiled at him.

"But what about the news broadcast that said you died?"

"That was Batman's idea" Aqua Lad explained "The master of deception said that if MourningStar believed that she had indeed killed M'Gann that she would not think to look for her. Martian Manhunter did not inform us of what had become of you, M'Gann. Conner was very troubled by your absence" he smiled at her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I have something very important to tell you all: I had trouble fighting Mourning Star because her mind was all in scrambles-she can't focus on a specific thing for very long, so if we all attack at the exact same time, she won't know which one to attack first!"

"That's good and all, but the final blow is mine!" Junior stated, the subject would not be up for debate.

They all piled into the Belle Reve truck and Nightwing drove to Cadmus Labs, the security guards being gently put to sleep by Miss Martian. They approached the front door and the keypad asked them for their identification number. Junior grinned and said "I got you ID number right here!" he iced himself and froze off the system, all the doors opening.

Robin looked at Nightwing and said "Dick, we're not just here for the kryptonite, are we?"

"No...I've got a few important people here..." he gritted his teeth and took out his metal rod to break something open if need be. Robin looked at the holographic map in his arm bracelet and pointed out the way to the cryogenic pods. When they got there, Junior's power went up tenfold and his iced up body got colder.

"This feels so good!" he basked in the cold, then his eyes went wide as he looked into the face of a much younger looking Mourning Star. "JESUS!" he jumped back, the cold mist fogging up the window. He brushed it off and took a look at the name plate. "This is impossible!"

Nightwing placed an EMP device on the pod and deactivated the system, causing it to open up. The little girl opened her eyes and backed away very frightened "I PROMISE I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL!" she scampered to the very corner of the room and cowered.

Miss Martian went into her mind and said _We're not here to hurt you...we're here to help..._

Nightwing approached her and said "Melissa?"

The girl said nothing but shivered in fear as she let him pick her up. Miss Martian looked like she was about to cry as she said "She thinks she's still nine years old...the terrible things they did to her here..."

Junior said "If that's Melissa Starling, then who's Mourning Star?"

Robin looked around and saw a frozen strand of DNA and scanned it in his technology bracelet "It's Tamaranian DNA...from a female named Blackfire"

"They had Starfire here...I can feel her here" Nightwing whispered "I'm one step closer to finding you..." the Tamaranian girl he always loved went missing after she went after Warp in the time stream. Some of the girl's DNA had been dropped off in different time periods in history, it had almost been seven years since he seen her last.

The little girl finally said "I swear I didn't mean to start the fire! I just got so angry and-" she got choked up and cried into her cousin's chest. Taking a big whiff of his scent she looked up and said "Dick?"

He gave her a sad smile and said "Hey, kiddo..."

"How long has it been?! The last time I remember seeing you, I was in the-" her eyes went wide again and she began to struggle "DON'T YOU TOUCH MY BABY SISTER!" she clawed at him, and Miss Martian had to put her to sleep to keep her from causing harm to anybody.

"Poor thing...such terrible memories" she stroked the child's red, yellow and orange hair lovingly "she can't tell what's happening then and how..."

Robin pulled up the data on Mourning Star and found a hidden Easter Egg in the file that gave a direct link to a Cadmus database. He worked his magic and got the data he needed and said "Mourning Star's a clone! She's got Melissa's powers and looks, but pure Tamaranian survival skills! She can take a few hits from Superboy, that's how she was able to fight without getting winded so easily!"

Junior actually felt sorry for the little girl, she was actually crazy but she couldn't do anything about it. Chronologically and biologically she was nineteen, but mentally she was a screwed-up nine year old. The kid was still knocked out cold in Nightwing's arms. "So what do we do with her...?"

"I will take her back to Gotham with me. My part is done in this story, and so is hers. I want her to have the life she deserves" he adjusted her in his arms and was gone in a flash. He would not have her put in Arkham, but he would have a few of his friends talk to her like Raven and Kid Devil.

Then they all heard the police sirens and they all ran away back to LexCorp for the showdown.

MourningStar had not slept for a few days, knowing exactly what she was and keeping it a secret had been easy so far, but the thing about it was that even clones needed sleep. She was Cadmus' first experiment in cross-breeding clones and she was a failure, to say the least. The initial purpose of her being was to gain the powers of both the Starling brat and Tamaranian people, but only the pure Tamaranian personality of Blackfire came through. No actual flying, no eye lasers, no throwing starbolts, just her ruthless personality. The brat's fire power was completely useless-the runt had no control over her own ability and it was passed down to her. She rolled the amber kryptonite around in her hand, being careful not to let it out of her touch for an instant. At this current moment in time, she had ordered Superboy to kill all the super villains in her employment and she was watching the carnage. "Call ME a failure, will they...lets see how Cadmus likes the fact that they now answer to their failed experiment!"

Then, the amber kyrotonite was pulled away from her as if by some unseen force, and then it dropped to the floor and shattered in a million pieces. In a fit of frustration she screamed and there was fire in her eyes "WHO DARES?!"

"I dare!" Miss Martian floated past her right to Conner "Conner! Conner! Are you okay?"

The Kryptonian half-breed looked up with tears of joy and anger in his eyes "M'Gann!" he hugged her tight and said "I remember everything I have done..."

"Shh...nobody blames you..." she said, a blast of heat zooming by their heads.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" the irritated clone said, her temper flaring up.

"I went intangible at the last second! You didn't think I did, did you?!"

"AHHHH!" she lit her body on fire, but was promptly put out by Aqua Lad. He held her there in a mass of water, the clone unable to set herself ablaze while under the liquid. She was drowning fast, and Icicle Junior came into sight with a big smile on his face.

"I am SO gonna enjoy this!" he said, icing the drowning clone and then Superboy smashed through it, shattering the clone into a million pieces. He then turned to M'Gann and kissed her hard, missing the feeling of her lips on his.

Lex Luthor came from the shadows with his lawyers and said "Well done, my son" he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder "Very well done."

Conner brushed him off and said "You are NOT my father...and neither is Superman" he picked up M'gann and carried her bridal style all the way back to Mount Justice. The people were overjoyed to see that Miss Martian was alive and well. Meanwhile, Cameron was in Artemis' bedroom just keeping her company. This went on for a few weeks until the doctor said it was okay to take off the casts.

"Okay, now touch all your fingers to your thumb..." she did it with little pain and lifted her arms above her head. "Very good! I suggest that you still stay away from crime fighting for a while until you get full mobility back, but you are clear to do normal things!"

"Cool!" Cameron said "Does that mean she can go on a date with me?"

"Cameron!" the blushing Artemis said, he had asked her to be his girl last week and she accepted.

"Just as long as you two don't engage in..." the doctor gave them a silly face "strenuous activity~"

They both laughed and he took her hand in his "I'm taking ya to the carnival and winning ya a giant stuffed teddy bear!" for the first time in his life, he understood what being truly happy meant.


End file.
